Thursday Three:

  

1. We had another full week with fun things outside the house everyday... SO THANKFUL I can walk [almost] without thinking about every step!

2. Right now we're loving a little time to catch up on things at home, our new woodsy tree [that may stay out all winter,] football and good books, snuggling with our cats, and sharing the lunch portion of Rosie's fajitas.

 

3. Also this sleeveless dress I picked up on sale at Target

that I can dress up or down - so fun.

#HardwickAdventures

Commonplace Book ♥️ November ♥️

 I've realized I've not shared this little practice on the socials much...  

Truth is, when I started this [re-purposed] book back in January  

I wasn't sure if I'd still be doing it this month [SO MANY unfinished projects, ha].  

 

But here I am... just finishing up the first week in December - 

and I am enjoying it so much!!

 

 

 There's nothing special about it - obviously - just bits and pieces of [my] everyday life all in one place. And I love it.  

   

[Even the seemingly unfinished pages... because: life.] 

#commonplacebook

#FaithBasedPages --> bc I added a little bit of what God's been teaching me each week [we're never too old to learn from Him.]

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

 

[an edited repeat from past years...]

Pere' Noel, Christkindle, Father Christmas, Kriss Kringle, Sinterklas,

St. Nicholas

I was first introduced to St. Nicholas as a freshman in college when my dear friend Grace [whose grandparents on both sides of her family came to the US from the Netherlands] put a wooden shoe, filled with candy, outside my door on December 6th. [Still have that shoe, btw.]

I’ve loved the idea of St. Nicholas ever since!

There’s a lot of fact and folklore about him today, but most believe he was a real person and that the idea of Santa Claus came from the acts of goodwill that he did.

[Random Acts of Christmas Kindness, if you will - ]

Here’s a link that tells his story briefly.

I’ve always wanted to have “Santa Claus” visit our boys on December 6th and keep Christmas sacred [or, practically --at least spread out the gift-receiving a little for them], but differed to C’s wishes. So instead, for the last 27 years, our boys have always received a chocolate Santa on December 6th. [Granted there were some years when I was out at 5 a.m. to get these Santas because of our crazy schedule! – But it was done!]

This year? Sadly - this may be the first time over 35 years that I've sent out the chocolate santas - but, Happy St. Nicholas Day to you anyway!!!

At our house Santa has always been pretend.

Our boys were never taught he was real, but more just a character of the secular celebration of Christmas [kind of like Mickey Mouse = celebration of magical place] who left gifts for them on Christmas morning. They’ve always known that Mom and Day were “Santa.” We’ve had a few Santa photos through the years [we have those Mickey ones too!] and we’ve had fun with it, but have always, always tried to help our boys see that

Jesus truly is the reason we have anything at all to celebrate in this life.

We hope that in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas Season you can take the time to see a tiny baby lying in a manger who died so we might live eternally.

And, oh - the peace [that passes understanding] that only He can give us

as we live in this crazy world broken by sin...

What a hope we have because of Him!

Thursday Three:

1. Finished up Thanksgiving with sweet family time...

2. I've had a week full of appointments, sometimes more than one a day - oh. my. 

 Some doctors' visits, a hair appointment, a fun luncheon, and a little scrapbook time...

HOW DID I EVER WORK? ha
3. On a different note - I saw a piebald deer beside the I-65 on our way home from Nashville Tuesday ... SO COOL! 

Only 2% of the deer population is piebald...
#HardwickAdventures

Aishling the Airstream Update No. 055

Honeycomb Campground 

 You can see more about our time at Honeycomb here.

A favorite place of ours!

Especially in the fall 

when most of the lake activities have slowed down. 

 

And we so enjoy this group of friends who come together each year! This is a pretty laid back camping event / rally - with a loose agenda of gathering together.

We just enjoy the view at all times of the day....

And the quietness with only a few fishermen here and there...

Early mornings are always nice, 

with a little fog on the water. 

[Pro Tip {ha} that's my finger blocking out the boat pier on the bottom. 

I forgot to edit it out - ]

It's so nice to gather for coffee, pancakes, or a potluck and linger to visit... 

Craig and I really do love seeing everyone visit together!

And dinner at Top of the River 

is always GOOD for those who want to join in!

But mostly we enjoy some good fire pit time!

Plus this is where our little [vintage] camping group -

DEEP SOUTH CARAVANS came to be - lol 

But that's a story for another time...

 

G R A T I T U D E. D O C U M E N T E D.

 

Days 26-30. Yes & amen!

 

 

I hope you've had a wonderful month focusing on blessings!

Here's the last week of my Gratitude Documented journal for 2025...

 y'all know I look for [and see] things I'm thankful for everyday -- and I hope you do too -- #if_gratitudedocumented2025 kit is a wonderful guide with daily prompts --

 and, who am I kidding, lots of fun stuff! [I added stuff in as well...] You can see that I plan to use a weekly tip-in for journaling/prayer.

[Oh, and I'm also committed to doing a little somethin-somethin in my Bible as well...]

 

As we step into the holiday season, i encourage you to set aside time to rest in God - Have a great week!

 

#FaithBasedPages #faithart #faithjournaling #Bibleart #Biblejournaling #faithartjournal @judyinhuntsvilleal @illustratedfaith

Thursday Three:

 

...a bit late as I reflect on the week -->
1. We finished up our whirlwind Troll Hunt in North Carolina and came home to spruce up the house for company.
2. Decorating for fall is one of my favorite things to do -
3. As is cooking good food when I have people here to eat it up [...with maybe a few leftovers since you can see I'm having dressing for breakfast this a.m.] This year we had: deviled eggs, pear salad [I think it's a Southern Thang], chicken[s] from Costco*, family recipe dressing, green bean casserole, roasted broccoli, crockpot mac & cheese, rolls, pumpkin cheesecake [instant pot, made with greek yogurt, yum,] and one of Costco's huge pumpkin pies -

*I didn't have the time or inclination to cook a turkey breast that no one --> really <-- loves... so there's that.

See less

G R A T I T U D E. D O C U M E N T E D.

G R A T I T U D E. D O C U M E N T E D.

 

Days 20-25. Yes & amen!

 

Y'all know I look for [and see] things I'm thankful for everyday 

 

-- and I hope you do too -- 

 

#if_gratitudedocumented2025 kit is a wonderful guide with daily prompts -- 

 and, who am I kidding, lots of fun stuff! [I added stuff in as well...] 

 

You can see that I plan to use a weekly tip-in for journaling/prayer. 

 

[To be honest ---> I will probably add one of Mary Wagerin's color wheels to the upper right of this cluster...]

 

 

[It's my sweetheart's birthday!]

 

 Oh, and I'm also committed to doing a little somethin-somethin in my Bible as well... - trying to do something for each day's prompt as seen on this post -

  As we step into the holiday season, I encourage you to 

set aside time to rest in God. 

 Have a great week!

 #FaithBasedPages #faithart #faithjournaling #Bibleart #Biblejournaling #faithartjournal @judyinhuntsvilleal @illustratedfaith

Aishling the Airstream Update No. 054

Alabama Fiddler's Rally 

at the

 

Tennessee Valley Old Time

Fiddler's Convention 

 

 It was our first time to attend the Old Time Fiddler's Convention 

and we had such a great time!

 

Everyone sets their chairs up ahead of time so you have secured spot to sit and enjoy the concerts each evening. Our tickets also included access to the vendor booths [cool!] and all of the gatherings throughout the venue where people just gathered and started playing together as others joined in-

 

We camped with our Alabama Club in a softball field just a couple of blocks from the event - and, even though we worked hard as the hosts, we really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere of our little mini rally [we hope they did too!]

We enjoyed coffee each morning 

and Craig cooked pancakes one day - 

 

And we had a little 'pop-up' strawberry challenge to see what people might make using strawberries we gave them + whatever they had in the camper + only two purchased ingredients... LOVED all the different ways we used the strawberries. 

[I made a chicken strawberry salad with [purchased] goat cheese and balsamic dressing. Yum.]

We also had meals and entertainment at Am Vets Post 21 and Alabama Veterans Museum... plus the Disabled American Vets cooked for us one night.  

The weather was perfect - 

and we really enjoyed having our great big tent for a shady place

to visit under every day!

 

BONUS - was getting to visit with this crew!

They've been coming to the Fiddler's Convention since MK was in a stroller! 

 

All-in-all we had a wonderful time!

It was great to have time visiting with our Alabama Club friends and the proximity of our camping area to the venue was wonderful!

We're already looking forward to next year!

[We REALLY do enjoy our #AishlingtheAirstream !]